Cover Art for The Shard

I didn't like the generic covers Authonomy had available for use with books, so I had to mock one up really quick. I wish I were better at doing these sorts of things. I didn't know what kinds of fonts or colors would be best, so I picked things that looked semi-decent though I know any pro would cringe. 

This picture wasn't meant to be a cover. The art was done by Shane Tyree. It works better as a fold-out piece of art within the book. Here it cuts off the head of the dragon. Also, I don't think book covers should give away important plot points, such as the fact that the big, bad dragon has been dead for a long time already.

I think Shane did an excellent job of capturing the way this moment looked to me in my mind. This scene is where the elf Alvanaria and the minor noble Midas creep into the lair of the dreaded black dragon Kathkalan. They figured the dragon must be away since they couldn't hear anything, but they were still terrified as they stalked into the pitch black room.

Alvanaria figures out the truth first and lights a torch, nearly frightening poor Midas to death.

Click to enlarge. I also have an earlier post that shows a version of the whole picture, though that's a not-quite-finished version. Anyhow, I encourage people to look through and comment on earlier posts; I wrote many of my most passionate thoughts early on before anyone was reading.